Les P'tits Galets, Sainte-Maxime - sand, sea and a serious Kitchen
There are restaurants that happen to have a view, and then there are restaurants built around one. Les P’tits Galets, on the shore at Sainte-Maxime, belongs firmly to the latter. Feet in the sand, Sainte-Maxime to the left, Saint-Tropez to the right, and a kitchen that gives the setting something to live up to. This is our second visit to the world of Gordon and Boris - the two associates whose ventures have quietly become some of the most compelling dining experiences in Sainte Maxime. You may recognise Boris from Le Jardin, which we featured a few weeks ago. Here, Gordon is the one managing the front, the team, and the vision that holds it all together.
The man behind the kitchen
Sainte-Maxime drew Gordon in early. He had been coming to eat here with his parents for years before a Maximoise changed the equation entirely - and he stayed. A spell at Mario Plage was followed by time in Saint-Tropez at Cabane Bambou, and then positions running beach restaurant kitchens until, in 2017, he took over management of a private beach restaurant himself. In 2022, Gordon won the tender to open Les P'tits Galets. Together with his wife Nadège, he overhauled the decor entirely, sourcing pieces from Morocco and Bali. The result is a space that feels considered rather than constructed - elegant without excess, a genuine holiday spirit.
"There is no fuss here. Each dish showcases the quality of carefully selected ingredients. Every client is treated the same way. Respect is everything - we serve people the way we would want to be served ourselves." - Gordon
The kitchen
Gordon was the chef at opening, but when an early season stretched him thin, a friend stepped in. That friend was John - and he has been head chef at Les P’tits Galets for three years now. Gordon remains present, shares his opinion on the food, and occasionally returns to the stove for the pleasure of it. The day-to-day of the kitchen, however, belongs to John.
John’s influences are immediately apparent. He spent time working in Asia, including Thailand, and that experience runs through the menu with precision and restraint. His culinary identity sits alongside Gordon’s, and the two create something broader than either would alone: the whole basin méditerranéen, inflected with Asia, rooted in quality.
Fish is central. John puts through approximately eight tonnes across a season, sourced fresh each morning. There is no cold storage buffer to speak of - the kitchen is small, deliveries are daily, and freshness is treated not as a selling point but as a non-negotiable. Meat comes from premium suppliers. Pastry is made entirely in-house. Nothing arrives pre-prepared.
What to order
The menu changes three times across the season - mid-April to early May, early July, and once more for the final stretch - and adapts further according to the weather. In cooler spells, John offers a daube de poulpe that he describes as unique to the area; as summer deepens, the octopus moves to the brasero.
The signature dish is Gordon’s: thon Rossini, which has been on the menu since the restaurant opened and remains there through to the last service of the season. It is a risotto with truffle, a slab of tuna cooked mi-cuit, a pan-fried escalope of foie gras, a truffle sauce, and both shavings and oil of truffle. It is a dish that makes its intentions clear from the outset.
John’s own signature sits in the starters: a tataki de bœuf in the style of larme du tigre, using Black Angus USDA chuck flap from Ferme Kingtol, marinated and lightly adapted for French palates. He is precise about the distinction - the Thai original would be too fiery. His version is measured. For first-time visitors with a preference for fish, John recommends the tuna tartare - currently with Asian flavours - or the signature. Later in the season, a Saint-Pierre cooked in an Argentine charcoal oven joins the repertoire, along with sea bass or sea bream served for two.
"We try to offer quality food without going overboard on the prices. The fish is fresh on the day. We receive fresh fish every morning. That is genuinely our signature: eating fresh." - John
The experience
Les P'tits Galets operates as a seasonal beach concession - dismantled each autumn and rebuilt each spring - and the setting it creates is worth understanding before you arrive. This is not a restaurant that happens to be near the beach. Tables sit directly on the sand, shaded by fringed cream parasols, with the sea a few steps away and Saint-Tropez visible across the water. The decor, sourced by Gordon and Nadège from Morocco and Bali, runs through every detail: rattan pendant lights, woven ceilings, tactile ceramics, timber furniture worn smooth by salt air.
The atmosphere is relaxed in the way that only genuinely well-run places can be. Families settle in for long lunches, groups gather around large tables, and the team moves through it all with the kind of ease that comes from Gordon's insistence on no tension, good atmosphere, and a team that feels at home. Nadège oversees the welcome personally. The standard, as Gordon puts it, is simple: serve people the way you would want to be served yourself.
In season, the restaurant opens from 9h to 23h daily. It is also possible to come simply for a drink, space permitting. The fifty to sixty transat places offer a private beach experience alongside the restaurant's 150 covers. A reservation is advisable - around a week in advance at peak times.
A sincere thank you to Gordon and John for taking the time to speak with us and for opening the doors of Les P'tits Galets. It is a special place, and their passion for it is evident in every detail.
À bientôt,
